The Taxi Ranger
by The Original Space Cadet
Summary: Can a taxi driver be a hero? Please R


Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

* * *

The streets are crowded, noisy, and it's so hot even the air conditioner doesn't help. The door opens and shuts as someone enters and sits down in the back. They tell me their destination, and I shift the engine into gear. On the back of the battered driver's seat my nametag is displayed, which identifies me as Jason Scott. Not that it matters to my passenger. To them I'm just a nameless urban transportation slave that they will forget all about once I have taken them to their destination. Sometimes I try to make small talk, but it never seems to work that much. So I drive along with the radio on, weaving through traffic to get my passenger where they want to go in the shortest amount of time possible. They get out, pay the fare, though most of them gripe about it, then turn around and forget all about me, as if I never existed.

I pull out and head in search of more passengers, all the better to earn my pay, which isn't much. How did things get like this? Once I had a name, in fact, two names. One was Jason Scott. The other was something bigger, something much better. I was the Red Ranger. With my friends Billy, Zack, Trini, Kimberly, and Tommy, better known as the Blue, Black, Yellow, Pink, and Green(then white, then twice red, then black, he's had so many different powers it boggles the mind) I defended the city of Angel Grove, and the world from annihilation. First it was Rita Repulsa, then the sinister Lord Zedd. Their most nefarious schemes, from Cyclopsis to kidnapping our parents to brainwashing Tommy to Serpenterra, were never enough to bring us down. Sure, we had tastes of defeat. But we always came back to snatch victory from its drooling jaws. Goldar, Scorpina, Eye Guy, Pudgy Pig, Pirantishead, Drammamole, the most powerful creatures they sent, we would defeat, time and time again. Everyone knew us. Everyone loved us.

People loved me as Jason Scott, too. My friends, my family, the whole community adored me. I was a martial arts champion, a teacher, a community role model, a team player, a good student. I was a hero on two fronts.

And then I gave it all up. I walked away from it all to attend a Peace Conference. I thought that I could be a hero there as well. But too soon I found out I was wrong. I wasn't the big fish in a small pond anymore; I was a guppy in the ocean. Sure, Trini and Zack were there with me, but for all major intents and purposes, I became just another delegate. And I had to ask myself, after fighting for so long, did I really belong sitting around a table talking about peace? Trini and Zack didn't face the same kind of problems that I did; they adjusted just fine. And though they tried to help me adjust in the same manner, I just couldn't. And so, when the opportunity arose, I left the conference.

I was happy to return to Angel Grove, to where I was somebody again. Once again I was Jason Scott. And soon after, I was a Power Ranger again: The Gold Ranger. Fighting alongside my bro Tommy, as well as new friends Adam, Rocky, Tanya, and Katherine, I was once again doing what I did best: saving the world by kicking evil's butt, this time against King Mondo and his savage mechanical warriors of the Machine Empire. My return, however triumphant, was short-lived. The powers I had accepted had never been intended for human physiology, rather the physiology of an alien race known as Triforians. So I had to either give up my powers or die. The decision was a no-brainer. But I wasn't happy about it.

My next involvement with the Rangers was as the hostage of a space pirate who intended to use me and Kimberly as sacrifices. Rocky had injured himself and had been forced out of service. I would have been happy to step in, but the powers had already been given to a kid, of all people.

So I left Angel Grove for good. A string of bad luck in life, jobs, and love eventually landed me here in this dead-end position of driving a taxi. I've lost touch with all my old friends, though I know where some of them are. Billy found true love, albeit on another problem. Trini, from what I hear, has become a successful peace delegate. Kimberly's a famous Olympic-level gymnast. Zack has opened up one of the most popular dance schools in the country. I don't know what became of Rocky, Adam, Tanya, or Katherine, but I'm sure they're all successful.

Tommy is in Reefside, still fighting the good fight as a Power Ranger. Not that I know this from talking to him, but on the news there are reports of a Ranger team calling themselves the Dino Thunder Rangers. The instant I saw their black Ranger in action on the news, I knew it was Tommy. I'd recognize his fighting style anywhere.

It wasn't that long ago that I got the opportunity to fight alongside Tommy again, along with 8 other Red Rangers. We all joined forces on the moon to battle the last remnants of the Machine Empire and stop them from reviving Serpenterra. For a few brief moments, I was a hero again, doing what I loved to do, something that I thought I'd lost forever.

But it was over so fast, and once again, my Ranger days were over. Maybe I did lose the sensation of being a hero forever. Unlike Tommy, lucky guy that he is. It doesn't seem to matter if he wants to get away from being a Ranger; it always seems to find him. Why is that?

Zordon told us that we could never use our powers for personal gain, or we would lose them. And though I never consciously used them for my personal benefit-none of us did-maybe there was some part of my subconscious that reveled in the glory that came with being a Power Ranger, some addiction that was my failing that Tommy didn't have. Maybe that's why he's still a Ranger and I'm stuck behind the wheel of this taxi. Maybe I've always had some kind of hero addiction that led to my downfall. The hero junkie finally crashes from his high. And it's a long fall.

Visions flash through my windshield. Goldar. Lord Zedd. Scorpina. Rita. Mondo. They're all laughing at me.

"Hello, Ranger" Goldar sneers.

Rita laughs with delight. "But what's this? It seems he's lost his powers!"

Scorpina shrieks, "Oh how the mighty have fallen!"

"You're finished," Zedd growls, mixing menace with utter pleasure.

"Now time to meet some old friends," Mondo says.

Suddenly, more visions appear. Mondo's generals, followed by Cyclopsis, by Serpenterra, by the most powerful foes we've ever faced. They surround the city and engulf it in flames, putties and cogs leaping forth, with me trapped in the middle. Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Scorpina, and Mondo all begin to dance.

"Ha Ha Ha," Zedd cackles. "Because of your hero-lust you became as bad as us! Now face punishment!"

"NOOOOO!"

The scream doesn't come from me, though it is on the tip of my tongue. Momentarily snapped out of my reverie by surprise, I look through my windshield to find the source of the scream. A man stands on the curb, frantically waving me down. I pull to a stop beside him and he opens the door.

"Thanks goodness," he says. "I thought you'd never stop. My wife has gone into labor; she has to be taken to the hospital immediately!"

He helps his wife, who is clutching her stomach and gasping for air, into the back seat, then climbs into the front beside me. "Well," he says, "go!"

I turn around and hit the accelerator. The taxi zooms into the traffic. I'm speeding, weaving in and out, cutting corners and curbs, even running red lights. "Please," the woman implores, "hurry."

"But by all means be careful," her husband tells me. "Take the upcoming exit ramp. Maybe there won't be as much traffic."

Turning off the crowded street onto the exit ramp reduces the amount of traffic drastically. As I zoom towards the hospital, the visions return.

"Give it up," Rita says.

"You'll never make it," Zedd agrees.

"Look at him," snarls Goldar. "Still so desperate to be a hero he'll risk killing a pregnant woman just trying to get her to a hospital."

"Admit it," says Scorpina. "You're just like us."

"Yes, indeed," Mondo says. "Willing to destroy anyone that gets in his way. You never were a hero! And you never will be!"

They laugh, and the flames rise up again. I can see the city burning. Monsters are everywhere, on the roofs, on the street corners. Cyclopsis and Serpenterra stand side by side in the middle of the city. And above it all are Rita, Zedd, Goldar, Scorpina, and Mondo, flanked by his generals, laughing all the while.

They spit at me, verbally abuse me. Soon the monsters and putties have joined in. They surround me and begin to beat me senseless. Suddenly Cyclopsis fires, nearly frying me, and I see Serpenterra open its mouth to swallow me whole!

No, this isn't who I am. I'm nothing like them, nothing like them at all. I am not…not…a…not a villain! My mind explodes with a battle cry as I accelerate right towards the flaming city, right towards my demons. They stop laughing as I draw ever nearer, gaining speed every second. Their expressions are now frozen in fear as I smash right through them, mowing them down, every last one, slamming through Cyclopsis' torso and right through Serpenterra's head, leaving a spectacular exploding fireball behind me. Sparing a glance over my shoulder, I see that they have faded from view.

The man shakes my shoulder. "Stop," he says, "stop the taxi."

Startled and dazed I realized that I've arrived at the hospital. Pulling up to the main entrance, I nurse the cab to a stop. Nurses come with a wheelchair to help the woman inside. Getting out to pay the fare, the man says "Thank you so much, you are a true hero." Looking behind my seat for a moment, he then says, "Thank you, Jason."

My eyes fill with tears as I watch the man follow his wife into the hospital. Jason. Not once since I started driving a taxi has one of my passengers ever called me by my name, much less call me their hero. The tears flow as I turn the cab around and ease it back onto the freeway. I've still got plenty of heroics left.


End file.
